[TLFisher]

Going through David's latest article, here are several quotes that caught my attention.

"To be genuine, the oneness we practice in a locality must be the expression of the spiritual oneness we possess as the believers in
Christ." Page 12

No doubt, the reason some saints among us now question the value of the local ground is that, to a large extent, we have separated it from our spiritual oneness. We seem to have had the concept that if we just call ourselves “the church in” our locality it automatically means we are standing for the oneness of the Body of Christ, even if in reality we had special requirements for fellowship, such as appreciating a certain ministry, accepting the leadership of certain extra-local brothers, or following certain practices." Page 12

This is one point I feel many of us on the forum have expressed at one time or another.

"May God give us a heart like His to focus on Christ, and not on the outward form!" Page 15

"In mercy the Lord granted His people more time before He left the city altogether (Ezk. 10) and it was finally destroyed, but it was only so that Jeremiah could warn the people to flee from the coming, and certain, destruction." Page 20

"In such a case, God must do a work to deliver us so that we can follow Him again. As in the Old Testament, this may well require His judging work upon the system that has captured us, to the point that we become “exiles” from that system. As some commentators on this passage have pointed out, to be an exile in this way means we no longer have anything to trust in besides God Himself; no forms, no pretensions to piety, no false security, no strength of our own, no hope in this world." Page 21

"In type, the carrying away of the “treasures” and the cutting in pieces of “all the articles of gold” portray the loss of spiritual reality. Although Jerusalem and the temple had not yet been finally destroyed—that would happen a few years later at the time of the third deportation—all of the spiritual riches had already been lost."

Yes, I agree with this statement. Considering when light becomes dark, dark becomes light, true becomes false, false becomes true, sweet becomes bitter, and bitter becomes sweet. When this happens, yes spiritual reality has been lost. The kicker is it was lost decades ago, but many are not realizing it until in recent years. I think the obstacle is an outward form that is a comfort zone for their Christian living.

"However, by the end so much of the reality of Christ had been lost, as the headship of Christ was replaced with the leadership of
the brothers affiliated with the Living Stream Ministry, and the freedom of the Spirit was replaced by certain approved practices,
such as the Holy Word for Morning Revival, the “Seven Feasts,” and the “One Publication.”" Pages 23-24

What David touched upon here especially the morning revival has made it difficult for those who had wanted to come back (eg Scottsdale), but the scope of prophesying has been to narrow. In my experience when prophesying is used as a platform to ridicule non-LSM Christians, it goes unchecked.

"As mentioned at the beginning of this book, we must be clear first of all that the oneness of the Body of Christ does not come from the ground of locality. Rather, the reverse is true; the ground of oneness in locality comes from the oneness of the Body of Christ, and this oneness, in turn, comes from the organic relationship the believers have with God Himself, and with one another as those who are in the Father and in the Son:" Page 25

As I see the ground of oneness is a heart matter. It's not about where you meet or "the name" the assembly you meet with has, but it's about organic relationships with the Body through the Head. For example say you live in the Seattle area, one Sunday you can meet with Seattle Christian Assembly and on another Sunday Eastside Christian Community Church, and on another Sunday East Renton Community Church. Even though locations change, fellowships change, the ground of oneness does not change because it is an organic matter by the Spirit. Ground of oneness is not predicated by what ministry you're taking or which minister you're receiving.

If we're to look at the New Testament for an example of a ground in oneness. Nothing can be more clearer than Antioch. Here were such a diverse group of Christians who had only their faith in common.